Baseball bat swing training apparatus

Abstract

A baseball bat swing training apparatus is provided that includes a bat and a slide mechanism. The bat includes handle and barrel sections that are spaced apart to form a gap there-between. The mechanism is inserted within this gap and is connected to the upper end of the handle section and the lower end of the barrel section. The mechanism includes a sliding rail assembly and a rail guide that are cooperatively configured to insure that these upper and lower ends are substantially coaxial when the sliding rail assembly is situated in a rightmost position on the rail guide, and permit a lateral shift of this lower end relative to this upper end during a swinging of the bat. A tennis racket swing training apparatus is also provided where the mechanism is inserted within a gap that is formed between upper and lower portions of the racket's handle section.

Wherefore, what is claimed is: 
     
       1. A baseball bat swing training apparatus, comprising:
 a baseball bat comprising two separate and distinct sections spaced apart to form a gap there-between, said sections comprising a handle section and a barrel section; and 
 a slide mechanism inserted within said gap and connected to an upper end of the handle section and a lower end of the barrel section, 
 the slide mechanism comprising a sliding rail assembly and a rail guide that are cooperatively configured to,
 insure said upper end and said lower end are substantially coaxial when the sliding rail assembly is situated in a rightmost position on the rail guide, and 
 permit a lateral shift of said lower end relative to said upper end during a swinging of the bat. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein,
 the sliding rail assembly comprises a sliding rail member, and 
 an upper portion of the sliding rail member is adapted to permit the lower end of the barrel section to be connected to said upper portion in a manner that insures said lower end is substantially coaxial with the sliding rail assembly regardless of how the bat is swung. 
 
     
     
       3. The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein,
 the lower end of the barrel section comprises a longitudinal cavity having a longitudinal axis substantially aligned with a longitudinal axis of said lower end, and 
 the upper portion of the sliding rail member comprises a barrel-mating post, 
 a radially cross-sectional shape of said post being substantially the same as a radially cross-sectional shape of said cavity, 
 a length and diameter of said post being selected to permit said post to be snugly inserted into said cavity. 
 
     
     
       4. The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein,
 the bat comprises a solid longitudinal interior, 
 the radially cross-sectional shape of the longitudinal cavity is circular, 
 a radially outer surface of the barrel-mating post is threaded, and 
 the lower end of the barrel section is connected to the upper portion of the sliding rail member by threadably inserting said post into said cavity. 
 
     
     
       5. The apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein threads on the radially outer surface of the barrel-mating post are formed in a counterclockwise arrangement for a right-handed batter, and a clockwise arrangement for a left-handed batter. 
     
     
       6. The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein,
 the radially outer surface of the barrel-mating post is substantially smooth, and 
 the lower end of the barrel section is connected to the upper portion of the sliding rail member by inserting said post into the longitudinal cavity while an adhesive is used to adhere the radially outer surface of said post to a radial inner wall of said cavity. 
 
     
     
       7. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein a lower portion of the rail guide is adapted to permit the upper end of the handle section to be connected to said lower portion in a manner that insures said upper end is substantially coaxial with the rail guide regardless of how the bat is swung. 
     
     
       8. The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein,
 the upper end of the handle section comprises a longitudinal cavity having a longitudinal axis substantially aligned with a longitudinal axis of said upper end, and 
 the lower portion of the rail guide comprises a handle-mating post, 
 a radially cross-sectional shape of said post being substantially the same as a radially cross-sectional shape of said cavity, 
 a length and diameter of said post being selected to permit said post to be snugly inserted into said cavity. 
 
     
     
       9. The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein
 the bat comprises a solid longitudinal interior, 
 the radially cross-sectional shape of the longitudinal cavity is circular, 
 a radially outer surface of the handle-mating post is threaded, and 
 the upper end of the handle section is connected to the lower portion of the rail guide by threadably inserting said post into said cavity. 
 
     
     
       10. The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein threads on the radially outer surface of the handle-mating post are formed in a counterclockwise arrangement for a right-handed batter, and a clockwise arrangement for a left-handed batter. 
     
     
       11. The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein,
 the radially outer surface of the handle-mating post is substantially smooth, and 
 the upper end of the handle section is connected to the lower portion of the rail guide by inserting said post into the longitudinal cavity while an adhesive is used to adhere the radially outer surface of said post to a radial inner wall of said cavity. 
 
     
     
       12. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein,
 the sliding rail assembly comprises a sliding rail member, 
 a lower portion of sliding rail member comprises a tiered base, 
 an upper portion of the rail guide comprises a guide block, 
 an upper portion of guide block comprises a tiered linear guide channel that passes from a left side of the guide block to a right side thereof, and 
 said guide channel is adapted to receive the tiered base in sliding engagement when the tiered base is slidably inserted into said guide channel, 
 said sliding engagement permitting the sliding rail assembly to travel in a direction that is substantially orthogonal to both a longitudinal axis (Y 3 ) of the sliding rail assembly and a longitudinal axis (Y 4 ) of the rail guide. 
 
     
     
       13. The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein,
 the tiered linear guide channel comprises an upper channel tier and a lower channel tier, 
 a vertical axis of both the upper and lower channel tiers is substantially aligned with the longitudinal axis (Y 4 ), 
 the upper channel tier comprises a pair of opposing sidewalls, a prescribed width (W 3 ), and a prescribed height (H 3 ), 
 the lower channel tier comprises another pair of opposing sidewalls, a prescribed width (W 4 ) that is greater than the width (W 3 ), and a prescribed height (H 4 ), the tiered base comprises an upper base tier and a lower base tier, 
 a vertical axis of both the upper and lower base tiers is substantially aligned with the longitudinal axis (Y 3 ), 
 the upper base tier comprises a prescribed width (W 1 ) that is slightly less than the width (W 3 ), and a prescribed height (H 1 ) that is greater than the height (H 3 ), and the lower base tier comprises a prescribed width (W 2 ) that is slightly less than the width (W 4 ), and a prescribed height (H 2 ) that is slightly less than the height (H 4 ). 
 
     
     
       14. The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein,
 the difference between widths (W 1 ) and (W 3 ) is greater than or equal to 0.01 millimeters and less than or equal to 0.02 millimeters, 
 the difference between widths (W 2 ) and (W 4 ) is also greater than or equal to 0.01 millimeters and less than or equal to 0.02 millimeters, and 
 the difference between heights (H 2 ) and (H 4 ) is also greater than or equal to 0.01 millimeters and less than or equal to 0.02 millimeters. 
 
     
     
       15. The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the tiered base comprises rounded edges and rounded corners. 
     
     
       16. The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the guide block comprises rounded exterior edges and rounded exterior corners. 
     
     
       17. The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein,
 the sliding rail member further comprises a longitudinal aperture that passes from a top of the sliding rail member to a bottom thereof, 
 a longitudinal axis of said aperture is substantially aligned with the longitudinal axis (Y 3 ),
 the tiered linear guide channel comprises a lower channel tier, 
 the guide block further comprises a rail travel distance limiting cavity that is located on a bottom surface of the lower channel tier and is adapted to limit the lateral shift of the lower end of the barrel section relative to the upper end of the handle section to a maximum rail travel distance (D 4 ), 
 the sliding rail assembly further comprises a slide-limiting member comprising an aperture-mating post, 
 said post comprises a radially cross-sectional shape that is substantially the same as the radially cross-sectional shape of said aperture, 
 said post comprises a prescribed length (L 6 ) and a prescribed diameter (D 9 ) that are selected to permit said post to be securely inserted into said aperture so that said post protrudes a prescribed distance (D 14 ) from a bottom surface of the tiered base, 
 said cavity comprises a prescribed depth (D 7 ), a prescribed width (W 5 ), and a prescribed length (L 5 ), 
 
 the depth (D 7 ) is greater than the distance (D 14 ), and both the width (W 5 ) and length (L 5 ) are greater than the diameter (D 9 ), thus permitting said post to travel laterally within said cavity, and
 said post insertion occurs after the tiered base has been slidably inserted into said guide channel so that a bottom of said post protrudes into said cavity, 
 the difference between length (L 5 ) and diameter (D 9 ) defining the distance (D 4 ). 
 
 
     
     
       18. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the lateral shift of the lower end of the barrel section relative to the upper end of the handle section is limited to a distance of approximately 5.0 millimeters. 
     
     
       19. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the slide mechanism generates a discernible sound upon the lateral shift of the lower end of the barrel section relative to the upper end of the handle section. 
     
     
       20. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the slide mechanism generates a tactile sensation at a proximal end of the bat upon the lateral shift of the lower end of the barrel section relative to the upper end of the handle section. 
     
     
       21. The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising one or more of:
 a distal sound-emanating aperture that is added to a distal end of the bat whenever the bat comprises a hollow longitudinal interior; or 
 a proximal sound-emanating aperture that is added to a proximal end of the bat whenever the bat comprises a hollow longitudinal interior. 
 
     
     
       22. The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a protective sleeve that is disposed around the sliding rail assembly and the rail guide after the slide mechanism has been connected to the upper end of the handle section and the lower end of the barrel section, the sleeve covering the slide mechanism and overlapping a bottommost portion of said lower end and a topmost portion of said upper end, the sleeve being resiliently flexible so as to permit the lateral shift of the lower end of the barrel section relative to the upper end of the handle section. 
     
     
       23. The apparatus of  claim 22 , wherein the sleeve comprises one or more of:
 a right-handed visible line that is imprinted on a radially exterior surface of the sleeve, the right-handed visible line being substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis (Y 4 ) of the rail guide, and being located approximately 135 degrees radially to a right of the direction of the lateral shift of the lower end of the barrel section relative to the upper end of the handle section; or 
 a left-handed visible line that is also imprinted on the radially exterior surface of the sleeve, the left-handed visible line also being substantially parallel to said axis (Y 4 ), and being located diametrically opposite the right-handed visible line. 
 
     
     
       24. The apparatus of  claim 23 , wherein,
 a first text string is imprinted on the radially exterior surface of the sleeve adjacent to the right-handed visible line, the first text string indicating that the right-handed visible line applies to right-handed batters, and 
 a second text string is imprinted on the radially exterior surface of the sleeve adjacent to the left-handed visible line, the second text string indicating that the left-handed visible line applies to left-handed batters. 
 
     
     
       25. The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising one or more of:
 a right-handed spirit level that is attached to a radially exterior surface of the barrel section near the lower end of the barrel section,
 the right-handed spirit level comprising a transparent tubular vial that is sealed at both ends and is incompletely filled with liquid so as to leave a bubble within the vial, and a pair of substantially parallel indicator lines that are imprinted on the vial and are spaced apart a distance that is slightly larger than a length of the bubble, 
 the right-handed spirit level being located at a position that allows an imaginary line which is substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the rail guide, and is located approximately 135 degrees radially to a right of the direction of the lateral shift of the lower end of the barrel section relative to the upper end of the handle section, to pass midway between said pair of indicator lines; or 
 
 a left-handed spirit level that is attached to the radially exterior surface of the barrel section near the lower end of the barrel section, and is located at a position that is diametrically opposite the right-handed spirit level. 
 
     
     
       26. The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a counterweight member that is attached to a proximal end of the bat. 
     
     
       27. The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a non-sliding member that is adapted to replace the slide mechanism and maintain the lower end of the barrel section in substantial coaxial alignment with the upper end of the handle section at all times regardless of how the bat is swung. 
     
     
       28. A tennis racket swing training apparatus, comprising:
 a tennis racket comprising a handle section, a head section, and a throat section that rigidly interconnects the handle and head sections, the handle section comprising two separate and distinct portions spaced apart to form a gap there-between, said portions comprising an upper portion of the handle section and a lower portion of the handle section; and 
 a slide mechanism inserted within said gap and connected to an upper end of the lower portion of the handle section and a lower end of the upper portion of the handle section, 
 the slide mechanism comprising a sliding rail assembly and a rail guide that are cooperatively configured to,
 insure the upper end of the lower portion of the handle section and the lower end of the upper portion of the handle section are substantially coaxial when the sliding rail assembly is situated in a rightmost position on the rail guide, and 
 permit a lateral shift of the lower end of the upper portion of the handle section relative to the upper end of the lower portion of the handle section during a swinging of the racket.